A group of former employees at Nik Software – the San Diego photo editing software firm acquired by Google last year – are trying to capture lightning in a bottle a second time.

The half-dozen ex-Nik executives have teamed up with a Ukrainian photo editing software firm called MacPhun to fill a hole in the market that they think was left when Google bought privately held Nik Software in September 2012 for an undisclosed price.

“Nik Software was a leader in the digital imaging and photography space,” said Kevin La Rue, who spent seven years with the company. “It saw tremendous growth over the last five or six years. It’s the team that’s here at MacPhun helped to growth that company.”

The former Nik employees have opened a MacPhun office in San Diego. MacPhun was founded in 2008 and has about two dozen employees in the Ukraine. It makes photo editing tools, primarily for Apple computers. It has more than 15 million users worldwide and four of the top 10 photo software apps on the Mac App Store.

Nik Software, which employed about 40 workers in San Diego, made similar photo editing tools that gained a loyal following among professional and serious amateur photographers. Its advanced plug-ins worked in conjunction with other photo editing software such as Adobe Photoshop.

Google’s deal for Nik raised eyebrows because it occurred one month after Facebook purchased Instagram for $715 million.

Nik introduced a mobile photo editing product called Snapseed in 2011, and it was this technology that Google appeared most interested in – not Nik’s computer software. Google planned to incorporate Nik’s technology into its Google Plus social networking site and other online products.

MacPhun hopes to step into the void in desktop tools in the wake of Nik’s acquisition. It recently introduced a product called Intensify, which makes it easier to edit and add features to photos with one click.

“This is the first product we have put out that helps to transition our consumer enthusiasts more towards pro-type photography capabilities,” said La Rue, vice president of marketing for MacPhun.

Mornee Sherry, head of business development and sales for MacPhun who held the same job at Nik for six years, said MacPhun software can be used in conjunction with other photo editing software or as a standalone photo editing tool.

“While we produce professional results, our most expensive product is $59,” he said. “Our least expensive is $2.99.”

MacPhun also delivers its software on SD memory cards, which can be reused in cameras to capture photos. Poway’s Delkin Devices supplies the SD cards.

MacPhun is privately held and won’t reveal financial results, said La Rue. But he said the company is profitable.

“We are bringing a lot of the things that made Nik Software successful to the MacPhun repertoire,” said La Rue.